Ken Livingstone

Kenneth Robert Livingstone (born June 17, 1945), is a British local government leader. He has been the Mayor of London since the creation of the post in 2000 and was Leader of the Greater London Council from 1981 until it was abolished in 1986. After abolition he became Member of Parliament for Brent East, but did not enjoy national politics and had little impact in Parliament. He is noted for his plain, even blunt, speaking which has won him praise and critics on various occasions.

Recent events

One of the key points of conflict between Livingstone and the Labour Party had been the proposed 'Public-Private Partnership' for the London Underground. Livingstone wished to finance the improvements to the Tube infrastructure by a public bonds issue, which had been done in the case of the New York City Subway. However the Mayor did not have power in this area and Livingstone was forced to make a deal. The PPP deal went ahead in July 2002, but it did not diminish Livingstone's desire to re-join Labour.

Related Topics:
Public-Private Partnership - London Underground - New York City

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In March 2002, while still independent, Livingstone was accused of "cronyism" by some Labour party members in the London Assembly after he had appointed six officials as special advisers. Livingstone claimed the appointments were a "necessary efficiency drive," but these opponents believed it was a manoeuvre to help his chances of being re-elected.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1897512.stm

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An Association of London Government survey, conducted by MORI towards the end of Livingstone's first term, demonstrated Londoners' increased satisfaction with public transport and buses in particular were seen as more frequent and reliable.http://www.alg.gov.uk/upload/public/attachments/308/FINALALG-WEB.pdf In accordance with his pre-election pledge bus fares were frozen for four years, but then the standard single fare on the privatised London Bus increased 30 pence from 70p to £1 (43%) - well over the rate of inflation for the whole four-year period (9.7%).

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Livingstone was also instrumental in introducing the London Congestion Charge, in an attempt to reduce traffic congestion in central London. The charge reduced traffic levels by 15% and Livingstone intends to extend the zone in which the charge applies.

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Also in November 2003, Livingstone was named 'Politician of the Year' by the Political Studies Association, which cited his implementation of the 'bold and imaginative' congestion charge scheme. The honour came a week after Livingstone made the headlines for referring to George W. Bush as 'the greatest threat to life on this planet,' just ahead of the President's official visit to the UK. Livingstone also organised an alternative 'Peace Reception' at City Hall 'for everybody who is not George Bush,' with anti-war Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic as the guest of honour.

Related Topics:
Congestion charge - George W. Bush - City Hall - Vietnam - Veteran - Ron Kovic

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Allegations of a drunken party fracas involving the mayor surfaced in June 2002. The Evening Standard alleged that Livingstone tussled with Robin Hedges, a friend of his partner Emma Beal, at a birthday party for Emma's sister in the early morning of 19th May 2002. The paper maintains that he manhandled Ms Beal, who was pregnant with their first child at the time, and that he left the scene before the police arrived and after Hedges had fallen down a stairwell.

Related Topics:
Evening Standard - Robin Hedges - Emma Beal

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Livingstone denied any wrongdoing but the case was referred to the Standards Board for England by the Lib Dems on the London Assembly. The standards board went through each and every allegation made by the Standard, and owing to contradictory witness statements by parties involved (including two completely different statements made by the alleged victimhttp://www.london.gov.uk/view_press_release.jsp?releaseid=1869) and on the balance of probabilities the board "found no evidence" that Livingstone breached the Code of Conduct.

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Livingstone applied for readmittance to the Labour Party in 2002 but was rejected. In November 2003, however, rumours emerged that the Labour Party would allow Livingstone to rejoin, just ahead of the 2004 London mayoral election. Opinion polls consistently gave a poor showing to Labour's official candidate, Nicky Gavron, and many in the party leadership (including Tony Blair himself) feared that Labour would be humiliated by a fourth-place finish. In mid-December, Gavron announced she would stand down as the Labour candidate in favour of a 'unity campaign,' with Gavron as Livingstone's deputy, with Labour's National Executive Committee voting 25-2 to pave the way for Livingstone's readmittance. The deal hinged on a 'loyalty test' administered by a special five-member NEC panel on January 9. The panel recommended that Livingstone be allowed back in the party. The move towards readmittance came amid considerable opposition from higher-ups in the party, including Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, and former party leader Neil Kinnock. In a ballot of Labour Party members in London, Livingstone was overwhelmingly endorsed as the Labour candidate for the 2004 Mayoral election.

Related Topics:
2002 - November - 2003 - 2004 - Nicky Gavron - Tony Blair - December - National Executive Committee - January 9 - Chancellor of the Exchequer - Gordon Brown - Deputy Prime Minister - John Prescott - Neil Kinnock

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Livingstone was re-elected Mayor of London on 10 June 2004. He won 35.70% of first preference votes to Conservative Steven Norris' 28.24% and Liberal Democrat Simon Hughes' 14.82%. Six other candidates shared the remainder of the votes. When all the candidates except Livingstone and Norris were eliminated and the second preferences of those voters who had picked neither Livingstone or Norris as their first choice were counted, Livingstone won with 55.39% to Norris's 44.61%. Some commentators believed that his re-election as mayor was hindered rather than helped by his readmission to the Labour party.

Related Topics:
10 June - 2004

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Ken Livingstone was publically criticised in February 2005 when he compared Oliver Finegold, a Jewish Evening Standard reporter, to a concentration camp guard after the reporter had tried to interview him following a reception marking the 20th anniversary of Chris Smith's coming out. Livingstone told the reporter to "work for a paper that doesn't have a record of supporting fascism" - a reference to the Standard's sister paper, the Daily Mail, which supported Adolf Hitler in the 1930s. Livingstone also claimed the Standard was guilty of "harassment of a predominantly lesbian and gay event"http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,14173,1409315,00.html. The gay rights group called OutRage! stated that the gay community did not need Livingstone's support if that meant resorting to abuse.http://outrage.nabumedia.com/pressrelease.asp?ID=269 Outrage also used that dossier to further attack the Muslim Cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi.

Related Topics:
February 2005 - Oliver Finegold - Evening Standard - Reporter - Concentration camp - Chris Smith - Coming out - Daily Mail - Adolf Hitler - OutRage! - Yusuf al-Qaradawi

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After listening to a recording of the attempted interview with Mr. Finegold, the London Assembly voted unanimously for Livingstone to apologise. Livingstone responded by saying "the form of words I have used are right. I have nothing to apologise for"http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/548073.html. Deputy mayor Nicky Gavron, herself the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, said of Livingstone: "These were inappropriate words and very offensive, both to the individual and to Jews in London". The Standards Board for England, the body responsible for English local government standards, has referred the case against Livingstone to the Adjudication Panel, which could result in sanctions ranging from a censure to a five-year ban from public office.

Related Topics:
London Assembly - Nicky Gavron

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Livingstone further sparked controversy in a March 2005 commentary http://www.guardian.co.uk/Politics/gla/comment/0,9236,1430185,00.html in The Guardian where he accused Israel's prime minister Ariel Sharon of being a war criminal, citing his involvement in the Sabra and Shatila massacre and accusations of ethnic cleansing.

Related Topics:
March 2005 - The Guardian - Israel - Ariel Sharon - War criminal - Sabra and Shatila massacre - Ethnic cleansing

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In September 2005 Livingstone came out in support for the placing of a statue to Nelson Mandela, the former President of South Africa, on the north terrace of Trafalgar Square. Livingstone said ""There can be no better place than our greatest square to place a statue of Nelson Mandela so that every generation can remind the next of the fight against racism."http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/4272842.stm

Related Topics:
September 2005 - Nelson Mandela - President of South Africa - Trafalgar Square

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His long time researcher and friend, Simon Fletcher, now serves as his Chief of Staff at City Hall.

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